Cong minister gets Sonia`s nod to quit WB govt

New Delhi: In a sign of deepening strains
with ally Trinamool, sulking West Bengal minister Manoj
Chakraborty, who dubbed Mamata Banerjee as dictator after she
divested him of two of his portfolios, was on Friday allowed to
quit her ministry by the Congress high command.

Chakraborty, a Minister of State, had shot off his
resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi after Banerjee
stripped him of two of his portfolios -- Parliamentary Affairs
and Cottage and Small Scale Industries.

The Minister for Food Processing hit back terming Mamata
as dictator and questioned her performance.
Chakraborty is a close associate of senior party MP Adhir
Ranjan Choudhary and had been in forefront in opposing West
Bengal government`s move to change the name of Indira Bhavan.

The request of Chakraboty was forwarded to Gandhi
yesterday, who today allowed him to resign from the council of
ministers in West Bengal, sources said.

The development came on a day when Gandhi held
deliberations with the party;s top brass including Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh at the Congress Core Group meeting.
The sources said that the minister is likely to put in his
papers tomorrow.

A senior party leader speaking on condition of anonymity
said that the party feels Chakraborty was "aggrieved" and
"hurt" and his decision to quit the ministry was justified as
he was not even sounded about being divested of his portfolio.

The party leader also ruled out the possibility of any
replacement of Chakraborty from Congress saying it would
amount to accepting that the minister had erred, which is not
the case.

AICC in-charge for the state Shakeel Ahmed said the
decision has been communicated to PCC chief Pradip
Bhattacharya.